The Productivity Hack I Hated 😬 (But Now Use Daily)

A few years ago I tried time blocking—a time-management technique that productivity gurus swear by.

But I absolutely hated it.

Now if you don’t know what time blocking is, it’s a way organize your schedule. You divide your calendar up into blocks of time for different tasks. For example, you may have a block in the morning for the gym, a block in the afternoon for errands, a block in the evening for studying, and so on.

(Essentially, it’s just a fancy word for scheduling, lol.)

It’s a great way to stay disciplined, but to me, it felt suffocating. Planning every single minute of my day removed the spontaneity of life. What if I wanted to grab a meal with friends? What if I wanted to go for a quick walk? What if I simply wanted to take a break?

Sure, I could adjust my calendar, but then I’d have to move all the other blocks. It’d become a complete mess!

Flash forward a few years, and now I love time blocking. I believe there’s a “right” and a “wrong” way to time block, so in today’s newsletter, I want to cover the difference.

👎 The Wrong Way to Time Block

Most people will pop their tasks into their calendar.

“But Gohar, didn't you literally say that's what time blocking is?”

Yes, but think about all the little tasks you have each day. Brushing your teeth (hopefully), eating breakfast, going for a walk, answering emails, going to the gym, taking our the garbage, washing the dishes, studying for your biology test, finishing up your chemistry lab report, writing a proposal for that new club you want to start… the list NEVER ENDS.

And that’s exactly the problem.

If you block out time for each individual task, this strategy will backfire. You’ll spend your entire life racing against the calendar to stay on track.

Even worse is if you stack these tasks back-to-back. Now you’re not only racing the clock, but making micro-adjustments to your calendar whenever a task takes longer than expected.

I wholly believe this is a counterproductive system that results in unnecessary stress and inefficiency.

So then what should you do instead?

👍 The Right Way to Time Block

First things first, do not schedule time for each individual task. Before you even touch your calendar, organize your tasks into batches.

Then, create blocks for each batch, not for each task. This way, you’ll have structure and flexibility.

By blocking out batches, you’ll still have a sense of what to complete when. But you won’t need to readjust your schedule if certain tasks take longer than expected. Simply take note and work on the remaining tasks in the batch accordingly.

Another benefit of batching is that you get to minimize context switching. By taking on similar tasks together, you get to stay in the same headspace.

For example, the mindset you have while studying is different from the mindset you have while planning. And batching helps you avoid the constant back-and-forth and the time it takes to switch between these mindsets.

Finally, add padding between your batches. Do not stack your blocks back-to-back. At the very least, give yourself a 15-minute buffer in between blocks just in case you fall behind.

I know you may feel the urge to be hyper-efficient and utilize each minute of the day, but life happens and you need to ensure your schedule has some level of flexibility.

⏰ Example

Let’s see effective time blocking in action.

Task List

Say you have the following tasks:

• Vacuum room and wipe down desk

• Respond to group project message with proposed meeting times

• Study flashcards for biology terms for 20 minutes

• Add chemistry quiz and history paper deadline to calendar

• Watch and take notes on psychology lecture from last week

• Fold clean laundry and start a new load

• Schedule an academic advising appointment for class registration

• Complete calculus problem set: derivatives and chain rule

• Organize Google Drive folder for English class

• Cook pasta with veggies instead of ordering takeout

• Update weekly to-do list in Notion or planner

• Outline three arguments for upcoming English essay on dystopian novels

Batched Task List

Individually, the tasks above may seem intimidating. But when you break them up into batches, they seem far more approachable:

• 🧠 Academic Work

  • Complete calculus problem set: derivatives and chain rule

  • Watch and take notes on psychology lecture from last week

  • Outline three arguments for upcoming English essay on dystopian novels

  • Study flashcards for biology terms for 20 minutes

• 🧹 Life Maintenance

  • Vacuum room and wipe down desk

  • Fold clean laundry and start a new load

  • Cook pasta with veggies instead of ordering takeout

• 📅 Planning & Organization

  • Update weekly to-do list in Notion or planner

  • Add chemistry quiz and history paper deadline to calendar

  • Organize Google Drive folder for English class

• 🗣️ Communication & Admin

  • Respond to group project message with proposed meeting times

  • Schedule an academic advising appointment for class registration

Time Blocks

And then finally, we just need to turn these batches into time blocks. (You should do this in an app like Google Calendar, but I’ll write it down for illustrative purposes.)

• 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM

  • 🧠 Academic Work

  • → 30-min break (grab a snack, take a walk, scroll TikTok without guilt)

• 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

  • 🧹 Life Maintenance

  • → 1-hour lunch break (eat the pasta you just made, relax)

• 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

  • 📅 Planning & Organization

  • → 30-min break (stretch, hydrate, check messages)

• 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM

  • 🗣️ Communication & Admin

Look at that! We transformed a messy, intimidating lists of tasks into something that feels much more manageable.

What’s your favorite productivity technique? Why? DM me on Instagram (@goharsguide) to let me know!

If you want study help, come join my Discord! We have a global community of students helping each other succeed in school. I’d love to see you there.

If you’re ready to level up next school year, check out Scholar OS. It’s the ultimate Notion template designed to help you organize your classes and life in one place.

I’ll see you next week!

Best,
Gohar